Selfish Faith
Only sinners go to heaven. I can still hear the voice of the preacher who phrased it that way. There was a touch of flabbergast in it and down-right stupefaction - “Only sinners go to heaven!” It’s a crazy thought. But it’s right. Here’s the way Paul phrased it in Romans 4:5 “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness” – It’s about believing “on Him who justifies the ungodly” – On Jesus who makes right the wrong. When faith is placed in the one who makes sinners righteous by his death, salvation follows. That means that faith can’t change the fact that one is a sinner. It must be possible for faith itself to be an unrighteous act.
There has been a controversy in Theological circles about whether or not people can believe on Christ in an unregenerate state. I think I might have just glazed your donut. I need a can of Vacant-Expression-Be-Gone. There’s nothing like big theomological words to shut down discussion. Ok, let me say it another way: Faith sounds like a good thing, so how can bad people do that? Well, faith can be a good thing, but it doesn’t have to be. You can place your faith in the wrong object, and then it’s not so good is it? You can believe that the Sock-Gremlins have created one giant knee-high and are planning to slip it over the CN Tower. But even when faith is placed in the right thing – the Lord Jesus – it still might not qualify for being a good thing.
You have to ask yourself, why do people put their faith in Jesus? Well, they want to be saved. It’s a pretty selfish thing, really. You’re looking out for number one. It involves the instinct of self-preservation. They know they cannot save themselves, because they are sinners through-and-through. They reach out with the hand of faith to take the free gift of salvation. Can that be considered a righteous act worthy, even in part, of the salvation offered? Well, if you think a depraved person selfishly taking something that only benefits him or herself is a righteous act, then that’s a strange kind of righteousness, for sure.
Sin has left no part of our existence untouched. There is no little vestige of pre-fall life in us. We are in complete and utter need of saving. Even the faith we would exercise to receive the gift of life in Christ is messed up. Belief precedes life. That’s the Biblical order of things. But faith is not seen by God as worthy of righteousness. The way our verse about puts it is: “his faith is accounted for righteousness”. That’s a re-valuation of faith. It’s like a pre-Euro currency today being converted into gold. It’s not a good deal. But it’s the deal God has offered. His graciousness has made it possible.
So, only sinners go to heaven, and a sinner’s selfish faith in a self-less Christ is the way. Depravity and faith are friends after all. There is more to the story of salvation than this, of course. Is there any divine influence (or wooing) that goes on before a person exercises faith in Christ? There sure is. But we cannot think for one moment that any given person might have no possible chance of being born again. That would negate the words, “God is not willing that any should perish.” Faith is our responsibility, but that doesn’t mean that we have a hand in saving ourselves. God does it all. He gets all the glory. He even uses our selfishness to bring us to him.
BJ
There has been a controversy in Theological circles about whether or not people can believe on Christ in an unregenerate state. I think I might have just glazed your donut. I need a can of Vacant-Expression-Be-Gone. There’s nothing like big theomological words to shut down discussion. Ok, let me say it another way: Faith sounds like a good thing, so how can bad people do that? Well, faith can be a good thing, but it doesn’t have to be. You can place your faith in the wrong object, and then it’s not so good is it? You can believe that the Sock-Gremlins have created one giant knee-high and are planning to slip it over the CN Tower. But even when faith is placed in the right thing – the Lord Jesus – it still might not qualify for being a good thing.
You have to ask yourself, why do people put their faith in Jesus? Well, they want to be saved. It’s a pretty selfish thing, really. You’re looking out for number one. It involves the instinct of self-preservation. They know they cannot save themselves, because they are sinners through-and-through. They reach out with the hand of faith to take the free gift of salvation. Can that be considered a righteous act worthy, even in part, of the salvation offered? Well, if you think a depraved person selfishly taking something that only benefits him or herself is a righteous act, then that’s a strange kind of righteousness, for sure.
Sin has left no part of our existence untouched. There is no little vestige of pre-fall life in us. We are in complete and utter need of saving. Even the faith we would exercise to receive the gift of life in Christ is messed up. Belief precedes life. That’s the Biblical order of things. But faith is not seen by God as worthy of righteousness. The way our verse about puts it is: “his faith is accounted for righteousness”. That’s a re-valuation of faith. It’s like a pre-Euro currency today being converted into gold. It’s not a good deal. But it’s the deal God has offered. His graciousness has made it possible.
So, only sinners go to heaven, and a sinner’s selfish faith in a self-less Christ is the way. Depravity and faith are friends after all. There is more to the story of salvation than this, of course. Is there any divine influence (or wooing) that goes on before a person exercises faith in Christ? There sure is. But we cannot think for one moment that any given person might have no possible chance of being born again. That would negate the words, “God is not willing that any should perish.” Faith is our responsibility, but that doesn’t mean that we have a hand in saving ourselves. God does it all. He gets all the glory. He even uses our selfishness to bring us to him.
BJ
posted by BJ at 10:32 a.m.
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